Rail spike



7 Jan; 8; I929.

i 1,6983 70 F. KRONENBERGER V RAIL SPIKE Filed 0ct. 24, 1924 INVENTOR14' 7 'ATTORNEY which follows rnnnmannxnomnmienn, or new atoms, N. in.

RAIL srrim.

Application filed October 24, 1924, Serial in; 745,662,. 1

This invention relates to spikes, and par-- ticularly to improvements inrailroad spikes forcausing said spikes better 'to engage the tie, and tobe locked in lace therein.

The various Objects the invention will best be understood from thedescription and from the drawings, in which, i

Fig. 1 is a side view' of arailroad spike of the usual type to whichcertain features of my invention have been applied.

Fig. 2 is a front view of the same.

Q .Fig. 3 is a-bottom plan view of the same.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a preferred form of my invention.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on the line Fig. 6 is a horizontalsection on the line 6-6 of Fi .4.

Fig.'7 is a bottom plan view of that form of my invention shown in Fig.4.

Fig. 8 is a side view of a a modifiedform of end. I

Fig. 9 is a similar view showing still another modification.

Fig. 10 is a bottom plan shown in Figs. 8 and 9, and

rail showing one of my improved spikes in position and another "about tobe driven down into the tie.

It is well known, that if the fibres of wooden tie have been cutcompletely across by the end of the spike as said spike is driven intosaid tie, the cut ends of said fibres are bent downwardly andfrictionally resist the lifting out of the spike. I

If the fibres have not been cut, the spike forces said fibres apart andsplits the tie on its waythereinto. The'life o a tie de ends largely onthe number of splits or c 'ecks I therein. If a tie' is not split,comparatively. little moisture reaches the {interior thereof; and thewood :is not exposed to the rotting action of the. water. If, however,there should be any splits or checks in the .tie, the tie rots rapidlyand the spike will no longer hold, s1 ncel the fibres have not, thestrength to resist any withdrawing force is ofiered to t e withdrawal ofthe spike than is otherwise possible.

'vention, illustrated in F i front and rear faces 10 and 1 spikeembodying view of thespikes In the simplest embodiment of my in- 1, 2and 3, the 1' of the straight spike 12 have shallow, inclined grooves13' therein, of'predetermined pitch. Each of said grooves preferablycomprisesa face 14 having downward pitch to the rightas viewed in Fig.2, and lying in a plane substantially erpendicularto the faces 10 and11. Said ace 14 enters the spike for a short distance, and meets asimilarly inclined face as '15 joining the bottom of said grooves 13with the face 10 or 11 of said spike. It will be understood that theangular relation of said groove faces 14 and 15 to each other and to theplane of the spike faces-10 and 11 may be varied as :de-'

sired. Said grooves 13 serve.to receive the cut ends of thoseof thefibres which are free to expand into said grooves after the spike hasbeen driven home. If it is attempted to withdraw the spike by alongitudinal pull, the ends of those of the fibres in the grooves .tendto follow the bottom of the groote, and tend further to cause the spiketo twist in the. tie, or if the'twistfibre ends resist the p illin gaction and tend to maintain the spike in place in the tie,

; ing action. isprevented in any manner, said Fig. 11 1s a verticalsectlon of a' railroad since the withdrawing force exerted on. the spikemustotherwi'se be sufliciently greatto in Figs; 4'to11 inclusive, thespike is intended to be used in connection with a he plate 16 of theusual 15 e, in which a preferably square hole as-1 is provided in theusual manner.

It will be noted that said bend the fibre ends upward by a sufiicientspikes are twisted toabout a uarter turn or somewhat less, :so that as te spikes are driven into the tie, said s ikes are forced by reason ofthe contact t ereof with the side of the hole 17, to rotate through, anangle equal to the twist ofthe spikes. It will also be noted the twistbegins at a point in the shank sufliciently below the head 27 ;to allowsaid shank to engage the hole 17 in the plate. in'the usual manner. f 4'As illustraatedin Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 11,"the

spike 18, which embodies the preferred form of my invention, is groovedon thefaces 19 thereof by means of the substantially' helical orinclined grooves 20, slmilar to the v ves 13' above-described, the pitchof w 'ch ispreferabl though not necessarily the same as that 0 the twistin the spike, but which itch is opposite in direction to said twist.'

aid spike 18 terminates preferably-in a point 21, which may be rounded,as shown, into substantially conical form, if desired,

to allow said spike more easily'to enter the 1 tie, though the "conicalpoint may be dispensed, with. The helical edges 22 of the spike in whichthe faces of said spike meet are continued toward the point 21, whileeach of the faces 19 near said point 'are indented or undercut by thereentrant surface 23 without disturbing the curvature of said edges 22,whereby said ed es are sharpened substantially into helica knife edges25 continuous with the spike edges 22.

It will be noted that a line. joining the innermost surface of theportions 23 would be substantially-parallel to the'helical edges 22,though it will be understood that said portion 23 may be formed by apair of substantially flat cuts meeting in a sharp helical edge, ifdesired.

1 When it is, desired to drive the spike 18 into the tie the head 27thereof is turned about one-quarter turn away from the rail,

and is then driven in in the usual manner.

: An overhanging round end of the usual type however. may be usedinstead to obviate the necessity-of starting the spike in this position.The point 21 cuts and compresses the fibres onits way 'intothe tie,while the knife edges 25 cut the ends of the fibres across, along ahelical line beginning near the top of the tie and extending downwardlyto the end of the spike. Since the fibres are cut, the tendency of aspike to split the wood on its way 'thereinto, is mini- 'mized withoutmaking a large hole in the tie. The cut ends of the fibres expand intothe grooves 20 in the manner hereinbefore explained --in connection withthe form of my spike shown in Figs. 1 and 2.- As the spike progressesinto the tie, the fibres'which 1 are cut by the knife edges 25 followthe bottomof the cuts forming said knife edges,

I and are gradually spreadapart and slightly compressed until they reachtheir final position in one ofthe grooves 20. It will be noted that thespike is forced to turn by reason of its engagement with the sides ofthe hole 17 .-in the tie plate 16 in its downward progress, andfifor thesame reason the spike =cannotbe withdrawn from the tie without beingturned in the opposite direction.

In that; form of my mvention shown in Fig. 8 the end 28 instead of beingpointed as in t e spike 18or bevelled as in the spike, -1 -i intoaseries. of chisel edges'30, w ereby the nod. by means ofthefibres-areycut when the spike is driven into thetie andithe'cutendsiofthefibresforced.

ooves 29 to follow the line 31 at the junctu re of the surfaces 32 and33 forming said chisel edges.

In that form of spike shown in Fig. 9 the chisel edges 34. are inclinedslightly u wardly in order that the spike may be rea ily started intothe tie. i

The various embodiments ofmy invention shown herein are intended to bemerely illustrative, since changes in the structure presented herein ma'readily be made without departing from t e spirit and scope of thisinventionfwithin the term of the appended claims.

I claim:'

cross section, substantially helical edges extending lengthwise of thespike, a air of reentrant surfaces inclined to said ges extending acrossthe faces of said spike and meeting to form a continuous groove thereinat a pitch substantially equal but 0 posite in direction to thepltchjofthe helical edges of said spike.

2. A rail spike comprising a twisted shank s uare in cross-sectionsubstantiallyhelical 'e es on said shank, a tapered lower end onextremity of said spike undercutting said edges for forming cuttingedges at said lower extremity.

4. A rail spike comprising a shank twisted 1. In a rail spikeofsubstantially square from the lower extremity thereof to a point spacedfrom the upper end of said spike,

and surfaces near said lower. extremity undercuttin the edges of saidspike for sharpening sai edges into cutting edges, the faces of saidshank having continuous helical grooves therein, the pitch ofv saidgrooves being substantially the same as, but 0 posite indirection tothat of the twisted ges of said shank.

Y -5. In a'r ia-il spike, a shank squarein cross section, helical ed eson said shank'fromthe lowerj endthereo toa point below the up;

per end-"thereof, the lower parts of said edges being sharpened "intocuttin dg an the faces of said shank being 1agonal- 1y grooved .to formcontinuous helical; eves of substantially-the same pitch' assaid'helical ed es, but oppositerin direction.

5 ND KBONENBERGER;

EERDIN

